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ANC vows to challenge 'shoot the boer' ban

The ANC intends reversing the banning of its youth league leader Julius Malema from singing "dubul' ibhunu” [shoot the boer], it said on Friday.

The ANC intends reversing the banning of its youth league leader Julius Malema from singing “dubul’ ibhunu” [shoot the boer], it said on Friday.

The South Gauteng High Court on Thursday issued an interdict barring Malema from singing Ayesaba Amagwala [The Cowards are Scared]

“The ANC is approaching our courts, including the Constitutional Court ... to challenge the high court’s ruling,” said spokesperson Jackson Mthembu in a statement.

The ANC expressed its disappointment at Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann’s “lack of consideration” regarding the historical context of the song.

Bertelsmann referred the matter to the Equality Court.

Bertelsmann said the fact that some people were threatened by the song could not be contested.
Mediation was needed in the Equality Court to alleviate the division in the national discourse, he said.

“We will now concentrate our efforts in challenging the application at the Equality Court,” said Mthembu.

‘Dangerous disregard’
Meanwhile, the Independent Democrats said on March 31 that the ANC was showing a “dangerous disregard” for the courts by criticising a high-court ruling on Ayesaba Amagwala.

ID secretary general Haniff Hoosen said he deeply regretted the ANC’s decision to continue with its appeal.

The ANC’s decision came two days after Hoosen wrote an open letter to his ANC counterpart, Gwede Mantashe, imploring him “to rise above the current tit-for-tat racial squabbles in our country, which are achieving nothing more than taking our country backwards”.

“Calling the court ruling ‘incompetent’ and ‘unimplementable’ shows a dangerous disregard for the courts,” Hoosen said.

By failing to use this opportunity to show mature leadership and level-headedness, the ANC had missed the point completely.

“Even if the ANC’s legal interpretation is correct and they pursue their appeal and win, our nation will still be the biggest loser.

“Our nation does not need leaders that get involved in these petty squabbles; it needs leaders that rise above them and reach out to all sectors of our society. - Sapa